Commercial Invoice vs Packing List: Required Fields

Key takeaways

• Korea Customs describes the invoice as the exporter’s document of specification, unit price and amount, and the packing list as the exporter’s document of package count, serial numbers, gross weight and net weight.
• U.S. 19 CFR 141.86 expects the commercial invoice to show the port of entry, the parties, the description and package marks, the quantity, the price in the currency of purchase, and charges such as freight, insurance and packing, each by name and amount.
• Under Incoterms 2020, seller obligation A1 is to provide the goods and a commercial invoice in conformity with the contract. Carton quantities on the packing list have to match the invoice.

A commercial invoice proves the price and the terms of the sale. A packing list proves how that same cargo was boxed. The exporter prepares both, but customs is asking two different questions: what was sold and at what price, and which cartons hold how many pieces and how many kilos.

What each document proves

A commercial invoice is the seller’s bill of the transaction: description, specification, quantity, unit price, amount, currency and the delivery term. In Incoterms 2020, the International Chamber of Commerce puts the same duty in seller obligation A1 of each rule. The seller must provide the goods and the commercial invoice in conformity with the contract of sale. Paper or electronic form is fine if that is what the parties agreed, or what is customary.

A packing list is not a price document. It splits the shipment into carton numbers, quantity per carton, type of package, net weight and gross weight. If those counts and weights do not match the bill of lading, the shipment is often held. The difference between a bill of lading and a sea waybill is covered in Bill of lading vs sea waybill, and a broader overview of export paperwork is in COO, CI, PL, MSDS: key shipping documents.

Send the two documents as a set. Repeat the invoice number and date on the packing list so the importer and customs can tie the cartons to the sale.

What Korean import clearance asks for

Import declaration covers the name, specification, quantity and price of the goods, the type, numbers and count of packages, and the destination, origin and place of shipment. That list comes from Article 241(1) of the Customs Act and Article 246(1) of the Enforcement Decree. The filing also needs material for determining customs value, a copy of the bill of lading or air waybill, and a certificate of origin where the rules require one.

Korea Customs Service’s customer center separates the two attachments when a declaration is selected for document submission. The invoice is issued by the exporter and shows specification, unit price and amount. The packing list is prepared by the exporter and shows package count, package serial numbers, packing details, gross weight and net weight. A value cannot be settled from a document that has no price.

On the export declaration, package count and net weight should match the invoice set. If a figure appears on only one of the two documents, someone will have to ask which number is the real one.

What the U.S. invoice rule asks for

U.S. Customs and Border Protection rule 19 CFR 141.83 requires a commercial invoice for each shipment that is not exempt. It has to carry the information in 19 CFR 141.86 through 141.89. A copy may stand in for the original, but a copy that is not a photograph needs a statement from the foreign seller, the shipper or the importer that it is a true copy. If there is no invoice at all, a pro forma or substitute invoice under 19 CFR 141.85 is filed. That substitute is not an invitation to reuse a pre-shipment quotation.

The fields in 19 CFR 141.86 that most often get dropped are these. The port of entry. The time, place and parties to the sale, or, if there was no sale, the place and time of shipment and the shipper. A description with grade or quality, the trade marks and symbols, and the marks and numbers of the packages. Quantities in the weights and measures of the place of shipment or of the United States. The purchase price of each item in the currency of the purchase, and the kind of currency. Freight, insurance, commission, cases, containers, coverings and packing, each named and each amount. Any costs of bringing the goods from alongside the carrier at the port of export to alongside the carrier at the first U.S. port of entry, if not already listed.

A wrong tariff heading changes the duty rate itself. Fix the classification before the invoice is issued. The lookup steps are in How exporters find and classify an HS code.

A worked example: quantity, weight and price

Assume a shipment from Busan on FOB Busan, Incoterms 2020. Figures stay in U.S. dollars. No won conversion is used, because none has been verified.

Line	Qty	Unit price	Amount	Cartons	Net	Gross
Item A	320	USD 3.00	USD 960	1–12, 12 cartons	96 kg	108 kg
Item B	180	USD 4.50	USD 810	13–20, 8 cartons	72 kg	80 kg
Total	500	—	USD 1,770	20 cartons	168 kg	188 kg

Three checks close the set. Invoice quantities 320 and 180 equal the carton totals. Net weight is 96+72=168 kg. Gross weight is 108+80=188 kg. Packing weight is 188−168=20 kg, or 1 kg a carton. On FOB, ocean freight stays out of the invoice total. If the shipper advances freight of USD 420, that 420 is a named freight line, not a silent addition to the unit price. The U.S. rule wants charges itemized by name and amount.

Write the term with the rule, the place and the version: “FOB Busan, Incoterms 2020”. Where cost and risk pass is set out in Incoterms 2020, the 11 rules.

Common mistakes

The first is recycling a proforma invoice as the shipping document. If quantity or unit price moves before the vessel sails, the figure customs sees will not match the remittance. Issue a commercial invoice at shipment.

The second is mixing currencies and charges. A dollar unit price with freight in euro, or packing and freight added on one line, comes back at the value review. Name each charge.

The third is a missing carton range. “20 cartons” with no numbers 1–20 cannot show which carton was short-shipped or damaged. Putting net and gross in a single cell is the same kind of gap.

The fourth is a description that only says “parts” or “samples”. That does not meet a request for grade, quality and the marks used in the trade. Samples still need a quantity and a price, or a reason why there is no price.

FAQ

Can an import be declared on a packing list alone?

Usually no. Korea Customs lists the invoice, which shows price, separately from the packing list, which shows count and weight. A packing list is not material for determining customs value.

Can a proforma invoice replace the commercial invoice?

A quotation issued before shipment is not a commercial invoice of a concluded sale. The United States does allow a substitute invoice under 19 CFR 141.85 when no commercial invoice exists, but that is not permission to file the quotation unchanged. Once quantity is fixed, issue the commercial invoice.

May the invoice amount differ from the amount remitted?

It can, if the reason is on the record: an advance, a balance, or freight settled apart from the goods. Hiding that amount inside the unit price conflicts with the itemized charges required by 19 CFR 141.86.

Does the packing list need unit prices?

No. The packing-list fields Korea Customs highlights are package count, serial numbers, packing details, gross weight and net weight. Keep unit price and amount on the commercial invoice, and match the invoice number on both.

Sources

• Korea Customs Service customer center, invoice and packing list as import-declaration attachments
• Easy Law (Korea), Customs Act Article 241 and Enforcement Decree Article 246, particulars of an import declaration
• eCFR, 19 CFR 141.86 Contents of invoices
• eCFR, 19 CFR 141.83 Type of invoice required
• ICC Incoterms 2020, seller obligation A1 (commercial invoice). The rules text is the ICC publication